Nine Years Later
by MrsSiriusBlack599
Summary: Nine years after Harry graduates. Ginny's been gone for the past three years, and comes back. HPGW with RWHG on the side. M for language and possible future scenes. Post HPB, doesn't really say much though.
1. Chapter 1

**((A/N: Hello. This is my first fic, so please be nice to me. grins Um… before any and all author's notes, I'll put the double parenthesis and it'll be written in bold. This first chapter is pretty boring, but it's all background info, and is pretty necessary. It's also two pages shorter than the rest of the chapters, sorry.Lemme know if there needs to be more info on the house; I personally find it boring, so I skipped it… basically. Parts are described as I go. My beta reader quit on me, so any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you. I OWN THE WORLD AND EVERYTHING IN IT! …er… seeing as how that's not true, I do not own Harry Potter… but this is my plotline. All right, here we go!)) **

* * *

He was dead. Eight, almost nine years dead. Harry Potter had finally defeated Lord Voldemort.

Harry's seventh year had been very hectic. He had missed nearly half of the year searching for the remaining Horcruxes, though he had _somehow_ managed to scrape up O's in almost all of his NEWTs. By the time he had destroyed all of the Horcruxes, it was late May. That was when Voldemort attacked Hogwarts. Harry was ready for him, though. Nonetheless, there had been many casualties, too many to count. A black stone memorial had been resurrected just outside of Hogsmeade with the names of the deceased carved into it.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had managed to make it out of the battle alive, though just barely.

But that was eight years ago.

Ron and Hermione are now married, and have been for some time. They live with Harry in his house just outside of Hogsmeade, near the cliff that they met Sirius at in their fourth year.

To be honest, it's not really a house; it's more of a three-story mansion, complete with a pool. It's set back off of the road, out of site, thanks to the many trees on the land, and their aren't many neighbors.

The third story hasn't been used yet; they plan on giving that to the kids, if there are any, and the rooms haven't been finished yet, for they are waiting to see if their future children are boys or girls.

Our story starts on a rainy Thursday evening in late June, with Harry and Ron returning from work.

"Hi boys. How was practice?" Hermione asked, her bushy head peaking around from the kitchen, where she could clearly see into the living room where her best friend and husband had just apparated.

"Awful. Wood got up on the wrong side of the bed, and screamed bloody murder for every little mistake," Ron said, taking of his mud-covered jacket. "Then Katie fell off her broom and had to be taken to St. Mungo's, so Wood canceled the rest of the practice and followed his _dear fiancée _to the hospital."

"Well, I should hope so! If you fell of _your _broom, I'd be at Mungo's in an instant!" Hermione said, kissing her husband. "So, what do you two want for dinner?"

Harry gave her a weird look. "You're not actually gonna cook… are you?"

"Why! There's nothing wrong with my cooking! Tell him, Ron."

"Erm, right. It's delicious. What are you _talking_ about you dolt?" Ron cried, playfully pushing Harry.

"Thank you," Hermione said, walking back into the kitchen. "But no, I'm not going to cook dinner, Harry, I have to leave in an hour. I was making cookies."

"Oh. Looks like it's just us men then," said Harry, turning to Ron. "How 'bout I order us a pizza? What do you want?"

"Sausage and onion," Ron said while heading up the stairs, missing Harry's look of disgust. "I'm gonna take a shower, be back in about twenty minutes." Hermione disappeared up the steps shortly after, following her spouse.

Harry ordered the pizza (a muggle-like pizzeria just opened in Hogsmeade) and headed off to his room to wash off as well.

He stepped out just in time to hear the bell, and hoped that Ron would get it. Knowing he wouldn't, he quickly pulled on a pair of sweatpants and an old Chudley Cannons tee shirt and sprinted down to the door, counting his money as he went, the bell chiming again.

Hermione showed up just as he was opening the door, a peculiar look on her face.

"Hi, sorry about that," Harry began. "I was in the – Ginny!"

Hermione coughed in the background. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention…Ginny'sbackfromRomaniaokgottagobye!" She said the last bit quickly, then quickly disapparated to work.

* * *

**((So there you go. Chapter one. How'd ya like it? All right, here's the thing: I have a lot of chapters written after this. The next one will be posted if I get five (5) NICE reviews. I don't care if I get a hundred flames (please don't), so long as 5 reviews are nice. Only two can be anonymous… and suggestions are welcome. Thank you!))**


	2. Chapter 2

**((Thanks to my reviewers… I'm not sure how to read them w/o going to the actual story, so I'm not positive if there's three or six reviews, but whatever. Ok. Chapter Two!))**

"Harry… it's kind of raining out here… can I come in?"

"What?" Harry asked, still staring at the spot where Hermione had just been. "Yeah, of course, come in"

"Thanks." Ginny stepped in, removing her jacket, revealing her skinny form. She wore an old pair of cut-off shorts and a black tee that looked as if it had been singed around the edges. Her fire colored hair was up in a black hair clip, and she had black tennis shoes on.

Harry immediately stopped glaring at the spot where his roommate had been, and started ogling at Ginny instead.

"RON!" Ginny saw her brother coming out of the living room and immediately smothered him in a giant bear hug.

"Wha–?" Ron said dumbfounded.

Harry looked at the two, disappointed that his ex hadn't greeted him like that. But, it _had_ been a while since they saw each other. Hermione and Ron's wedding had been, what, three years ago? Ginny had disappeared to Romania with Charlie soon after.

"When did you get back! This is awesome! Does mum know? How's Charlie? And Norbert? And –"

"Let the girl breathe, Ron," Harry laughed.

Ginny didn't even glance at Harry, didn't even acknowledge his presence before answering, "About 30 seconds ago. No, and I don't want her to find out. Good. Annoying, but he's finally getting used to the training. And before you ask, Romania is beautiful. Also, I know you'll ask this too, so I'll just answer it now: it's over. And tell mum to stop bugging me about it!"

Harry had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, but ignored it and turned to the door, where a loud pop had just sounded from outside. He opened it, and a very surprised delivery boy stood outside, his finger about 2 centimeters from the doorbell.

"Uh, half pepperoni, half sausage and onion?"

"Yeah"

"That'll be seven sickles, Mr. Potter."

"Here, keep the change," Harry said, handing the pimply boy two galleons, not even bothering to ask how he knew his name.

"Wow! Thanks, sir!" With that, he turned on his heel and disapparated.

"Pizza, anyone?"

"Mmm, I smell sausage."

"And onion, ugh. You still eat that stuff, Ron?" Ginny asked. "I swear, soon you'll end up _looking_ like an onion."

* * *

The pizza had been finished long ago, and the threesome was now sitting around the fire in the living room. **(A/N: it's in the fireplace. I had someone read this and they asked me why there was a fire in the middle of the floor. Just clearing that up)** Ginny still had not said a word to Harry, and when he asked her something, she either ignored it or directed the answer to Ron. Ron seemed to notice this, but wasn't overly concerned.

"So, what does Hermione do for a living, Ron?"

"She's an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries."

"She like it?"

"Of course! Never shuts up about it until we ask her about what she's been doing."

"And her cooking?"

"Still as bad as ever. Those cookies are hers, actually," Ron replied as Ginny made a weird face while biting into a chocolate-chip cookie.

"I heard that!" Hermione called from the entranceway.

"Uh-oh, guess she's home," Ron said in an undertone to his sister and best friend. Then aloud he said, "Heard what?"

"You think my cooking's awful!" the brunette said with a mock pout on her face.

"Not yours!"

"Then who's?"

"Erm… Katie's… Katie Bell's cooking. Ugh, terrible stuff. Not near as good as yours, hun."

"Oh. Never tried any of hers… at least I know to stay away from it now. Well, I'm off to bed."

"So early?" Ron asked, disappointed.

"It's quarter to twelve!"

"Oh… well… in that case…" Ron got up, bade Harry and Ginny good night, and followed Hermione up the stairs.

An awkward silence filled the room.

"So, Ginny, uh…"

"I think I'll turn in, too," the redhead said, standing up and heading toward the stairs. "The time difference and all… I'm very tired…"

"Wait a minute, Ginny. We need to talk."

She paused on the first step, and a bitter smile crossed her face. "What about, Mr. Potter? How you claimed that you loved me then dumped me like a piece of garbage? Or how about when I told you that I would never love another man like I loved you, and you walked out on me? Or when –"

"Alright! I get it, Gin."

"Don't call me that!"

"Fine, Gin-_ny_. I made it very clear to you why I left. I told you –"

"That Voldemort would use me to get to you!" Her voice was getting louder by the second.

"I said _could_ use you! I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if you got killed!"

"NO! You wouldn't have been able to live with the GUILT if I got killed! And I'm a big girl, Harry James Potter, I can take care of myself!"

"Stop yelling! Ron and Hermione are –"

"Who's yelling! I most certainly am not."

"Ginny…" Harry took a step towards the stairway.

"Fuck off, Harry. This conversation is over. Do me a favor, stay out of my life." And with that, Ginny Weasley, the love of Harry's life, stomped up the stairs and into her room."

* * *

By the time Harry awoke the next morning, Hermione was back at work, Ron had gone shopping for food, and Ginny was nowhere to be seen.

"_Dammit,"_ Harry thought, _"what did I do wrong? All I wanted was for her to be safe! And what do I get in return? Nothing! I hate women. They're so…complicated!"_

Harry quickly ate breakfast, changed into his swim trunks, and headed out to the pool as he did every morning, trying to get one Ginerva Molly Weasley off of his mind.

* * *

Ron and Ginny arrived back at the house seven minutes after Harry dove into the pool.

"I'm gonna go swimming," said Ginny. "Care to join me?"

"No, I'm going to head upstairs and take a shower," Ron said. "That creepy old lady kept spitting on me… I feel dirty."

"Fine, your loss." Ginny headed up to the guest room where she was staying, and promptly changed into her suit.

As she headed up to the pool, she thought she noticed some splashing. Assuming it was just the filter, she kept going. When she opened the gate, she immediately saw that she was wrong.

"Ginny! Nice of you to join me."

"I was just leaving," she replied coldly.

"You just got here. Besides, the pool is big enough for two." As much as she wanted to turn and leave, she also wanted to dive in and be back in his arms.

"_No. I won't do it. I won't let myself fall for him again." _Ginny thought. But another little voice spoke up. _"Oh God, he looks so hot! So… wow!"_

"No, really, that's ok. I'll just leave you alone. I – I'll come back later." She turned to walk away.

"Ginny."

"What." Her voice cracked, and she was sure she was going to burst into tears at any moment.

"Come back." Harry had gotten out of the pool, and was walking over to her. She glanced at him.

"Why?"

"Ginny…" he sounded lost for words, then started over. "What happened?"

"You left me."

"Actually, I believe you were the one who accepted the job in Romania."

"Yes, but _you_ left _me_,"

"And how is that? You packed your bags, and you apparated to work with Charlie."

"After I… I told you that I l – loved you, you changed. You stopped talking to me, and it was rare that we saw each other more than once a week. Voldemort was dead already, and… it was like, you no longer had an excuse to b-break up with me. Everything was so… different. I didn't like it. S – so I left. And you didn't follow me."

"I didn't know you wanted me to." He was mostly dry now, but Ginny still hadn't turned around to look at him.

"I waited, every day for over a month for you to come. And you never did." She turned around and her eyes were bright with unshed tears, her voice shaky. "You can't just stop loving someone, Harry. It doesn't work like that. I met up with Garrett in Romania, and he was my rebound guy. I don't think anyone told you about him. I never loved him as I loved you. You took my heart, Harry, and you tore it in two. I don't think you'll ever be able to repair that damage." And with that, Ginny Weasley turned on her heel and disapparated to her room.

**((And there's chapter two. Isaid it would be longer!Ok, can we do ten reviews? Please?))**


	3. Chapter 3

**((All right, didn't quite make ten reviews, but oh well. The first few chapters on this story are short, but they do eventually get longer. They're a bit too short for my liking, too. On Word they look a lot longer. I do not own Harry Potter… yet… and here's chapter three!))**

* * *

"Hey baby, how was work?" Ron asked his bushy-haired spouse.

"Same as usual."

"Care to share?"

"You know I can't," Hermione replied, kissing her husband on the cheek.

"Hermione…"

"Ron."

"We've been married for three years now, and you know how much I want a family…"

"Yes I do."

"Well…" Ron said looking over at his wife, wiggling his eyebrows. "Wanna start now?"

"Ronald Weasley!" Hermione watched as her husband crossed the room, grabbed her around the waist, and kissed her hard on the mouth. She slid her hands down his sides, unbuttoned his pants, and was working on the zipper when–

"Mary mother of God! Ugh! I've been traumatized for life! Agh!" Harry had just walked in from the pool, and now had his hands over his eyes and was facing the door. "Get a room, you sex freaks!"

Hermione and Ron immediately separated from each other, Ron looking embarrassed, Hermione indignant.

"This is our house too, you know."

"Yeah but…ew!" Harry shuddered. "Can I turn around now?"

"No, Harry. We're having sex on the kitchen floor," Ron said sarcastically.

"Oh, haha. You're hilarious." Harry started heading into the living room.

"Harry, by the way, next month there's a big reunion at Hogwarts for everyone in our year, Ginny's year, the year ahead of ours, and Fred and George's year. For those who survived the war anyway," Hermione said. "You interested in going? Maybe you and Ginny could go together?"

Harry laughed bitterly. "I don't think Ginny would go with me if I was the last man on earth."

"What did you do now!"

"Why do you assume _I_ did anything!"

"Look at your track record with women. Except for the redhead in question, you've never had a relationship for over a month!" Hermione pointed out.

"Fine! How 'bout this," Harry said. "If either of you can get Ginny to _voluntarily_ go with me, I pay you two… no, three hundred galleons."

"Harry, I hardly think that's ethica –"

Ron interrupted her. "Deal!"

"If she won't come, then you have to clean the pool for a month. No magic."

"Well, kiss those galleons goodbye Harry," Ron said smugly. "I can be very persuasive when I want to be."

Harry and Hermione both laughed out loud when they heard this.

"What?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Sorry… i-it's not f-funny," Harry said, gasping for breath. Hermione was sitting on the floor, unable to stand any longer. Ron didn't see what they were laughing about.

"How do you think I got Hermione to marry me?" The laughter in the room stopped immediately.

"What's that supposed to mean?" But Ron was already heading up the stairs.

"Practice in an hour, mate!" Harry called.

* * *

Ginny was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling when she heard a knock at the door. 

"If it's Harry, go away."

"No, it's me," Hermione called through the oak door.

"Oh. Come on in then." Hermione opened the door and Ginny saw she was carrying a tray.

"What's that?"

"Raspberry tea and some of my chocolate chip cookies," the brunette said smiling.

"I'll just have tea, thanks. I'm not very hungry at the moment…"

"Oh. Well, you missed lunch so I figured I'd bring you something."

"I missed lunch?"

"Yeah, it's two-oh-three. You've been up here for a while. The boys just left, and I figured that you needed someone to talk to."

"Oh? And why, may I ask, did you think that?" Ginny snapped.

"Harry seemed pretty upset when he came up from the pool."

"Did he?" Ginny didn't give the impression that she was the least bit concerned. "And what did that lying, conniving bastard say?"

Hermione looked startled at her best friend's words. "He didn't _say _anything, really… he uh… well, he… heh heh…" Hermione focused on the wall behind Ginny and spoke very quietly. "He caught us."

"EW! That's my brother! I did NOT want to know that! Ugh! Traumatized!" Ginny got off of the bed and crossed the room to shut the door. She shook her head and turned back to Hermione. "So did he – Harry, not Ron – didn't say anything?"

"No." But Hermione had turned away very quickly, and Ginny got the feeling that she was lying.

"Hermione."

"What?"

"You are a terrible liar."

"I mentioned the Hogwarts reunion –"

"There's a reunion coming up? When!" Ginny looked horrified.

"Next month… why?"

"Well, I'm gonna have to plan my outfit, get a tan, I'll definitely have to start swimming laps every morning –"

"That's when Harry swims."

"Every night then. Do you have a gym around here? Oh well, it doesn't matter. And then I'll have to –"

"Ginny! Kill the motor! It's a _month_ away. No big deal!"

"To _you_, maybe."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing."

Hermione chose to ignore the rest of Ginny's rantings and left to get ready for work. She was starting to get a little miffed about her job; she worked such irregular hours. Oh well, the pay was good…

* * *

**((There. Make the total reviews 30 and I will update again. Post two or three times if you have to, I don't care. Seriously, I won't post early again. :D Ok, till next time!))**


	4. Chapter 4

**((Ok, so you didn't make it to 30. Close enough. I do not own Harry Potter, just this plot. Thanks to all my loyal reviewers, I love you guys! Every time I read a review, I get all happy. Ok, a lot of the chapters I have already written, and am just waiting for the reviews. The chapters DO get longer! Just have to wait another two or three chapters. Alright, here's chapter four!)) **

* * *

The rest of the week went by extremely slowly. Hermione and Ron were having absolutely no luck with the Harry/Ginny thing. 

"How 'bout this?" Harry proposed one evening while Ginny was at the hair salon getting ready for the reunion (Hogsmeade had become accustomed to copying muggle shops and restaurants). "We make our little bet a bit more… _interesting_."

"Let's hear it first," Ron said, looking up from his magazine.

"Ok. If you can get Ginny to go with me, I'll pay you the three hundred galleons _AND_ I'll cook dinner for a week _AND_," Ron looked as if he was going to interrupt. "I'll let you use the Jacuzzi in my bathroom anytime you want for a whole month."

"You have a Jacuzzi! WHY didn't you TELL US!" Ron looked like he was going to go into hysterics at any moment.

"I present Reason A…" Harry said, referring to his best friend.

"We accept!"

"RONALD!"

"What?"

"You haven't even heard _our_ part of the deal!" Hermione looked way past angry; she was livid.

"Oh. I retract my acceptance… for now."

"Hmm… anyways… if Ginny doesn't ask me to go with her then you not only have to clean the pool, but you have to clean it with your toothbrush. Can't throw it away afterwards either." Ron looked disgusted. "Ron, you will have to clean every toilet in the house." Ron looked even worse. "And Hermione, I am going to sign you up for cooking lessons."

"There's nothing wrong with my cooking!" Hermione said shrilly.

"Yes, yes, I know, but it has a little room for improvement."

Hermione looked at her roommate with an _extremely_ evil eye. "Deal."

"HER-MI-OH-NEE!"

She completely ignored her spouse. "You'd better have that hot tub ready for us, Harry. There's no way we're gonna lose this."

"We'll see about that," Harry said laughing, then left to go up to his room. "Oh, by the way," he called over his shoulder. "Under absolutely no circumstances are you to tell _anybody_ about this little… wager. _Especially_ Ginny.

As soon as he heard the door shut, Ron rounded on his wife. "Are. You. INSANE! There is NO WAY I would be caught DEAD cleaning a bathroom! Much less a TOILET! God, woman, you better HOPE we win this!"

"You better stop calling me woman or you'll be _sleeping_ in the bathroom. And we're not gonna lose."

"Lose what?" came a new voice from the front hall.

"Gaa! Ginny! You're home! So… early!"

"Lose what?" Ginny asked, a bit more impatiently.

"Uh… the… muggle lottery."

"Suuure." Ginny rolled her eyes. "I'm going for a swim. See you later."

* * *

Harry got out of the pool the next morning, showed and breakfasted quickly. 

"RON!" Harry called up the stairs. "STOP FUCKING HERMIONE AND GET YOUR LAZY ASS DOWN HERE! WE HAVE TO LEAVE IN THE NEXT TWO MINUTES!"

There was a large bang from upstairs; Ron had fallen out of the bed. Seconds later he was tripping down the stairs pulling on his shirt, his shoes on the wrong feet.

"SHIT!" He toppled down the last half of the stairs, and would've whacked his head off the bottom if Harry hadn't caught him.

"Geez! You know, we _are_ wizards…" and with that, Harry took out his wand, mumbled something, and right away Ron looked as good as new.

"I knew that," Ron mumbled, clearly angry. "And Hermione and I were not… _doing_… anything. And I would appreciate it if you didn't act like Hermione was some sort of animal. I overslept is all."

Harry snorted into his coffee mug, but quickly turned it into a cough.

"Wh-wh-what's all the yelling about?" Ginny was at the top of the stairs, stifling a yawn as she came down the stairs… wearing nothing but a short little robe that barely covered her arse. She looked at her watch. "It's not even seven-thirty you retards! What'd you wake me up for!"

"Uh… Ron… late…f-fell…" Harry stammered. Ginny gave him a very strange look.

"Whatever."

Ron, taking no notice of Harry's peculiarity, shoveled three pieces of toast into his mouth and started choking on them.

"What is it with you men this morning? Actually, you were both idiots to begin with…" Ginny said, pointing her wand at Ron; his toast flew out of his mouth and hit Harry squarely in the forehead.

"You did that on purpose!"

"Prove it," the girl said mischievously. Harry was surprised. Ginny hadn't said more than two words to him since the incident at the pool. Before he could say anything, though, Ginny turned on her heel and headed back up the stairs, calling ahead of her, "'Mione, your asshole of a husband almost died. I saved his life. You owe me big time!"

"Ron," Harry said. "Skip breakfast. We gotta go. Wood'll shoot us if we show up late. Again."

"But –"

"I seem to recall that the last time we were late was also because of you."

Ron shot Harry a very nasty look (one that Harry was positive Ginny and Hermione would've slapped him for) turned on his heel, and disapparated to the Quidditch Pitch.

* * *

"I must say, you all did very well today," Wood said after practice. Wood was merely the captain/back-up player/manager. He mostly acted as referee, barking orders at his team. "Except when Harry almost fell off of his broom. What was that all about, mate?" 

"Oh, uh, I'm not really sure, actually. I just, um, lost my grip." But even Ron knew that wasn't what happened at all, though he wasn't positive about what _did_ happen.

"Uh-huh, ok. Good practice, guys." Katie coughed loudly from the back. "_And_ Katie. Ok, you're free to go."

Harry left quickly, and decided on the spot to walk home. Well, not home, that was a three-hour walk, at least. Maybe to the park nearby…

* * *

He had been flying extremely well. He watched, caught the snitch extremely quickly, let it go again, looped the field, and caught it again. 

He had done it at least sixteen times now, possibly more, and Wood was continually complementing him. Harry decided to go high above the pitch and dive from there.

He had been coming back down when he caught sight of Ginny and Hermione sitting down in the stands. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered him. However, he then spotted what Ginny was wearing. Or _not_ wearing. She had this skimpy little black shirt on, and it cut off so that one could see quite a bit of her stomach. She also had this low-rider miniskirt on and black flip-flops. Her hair was up in that clip again. (Actually, now that Harry thought about it, she hadn't worn her hair down yet… it was always in that clip or in a bun. He wasn't even sure how long her hair _was_ anymore.)

Harry was quite surprised that Hermione had even let her leave the house.

Anyways, this little distraction had been all he needed to lose his focus.

It looked as if his broom had frozen in place, but his body kept on going. He immediately pitched headfirst over the front of the broom, just barley managing to hold on. He was dangling there, and any bystander would think he was trying to do pull-ups in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch.

The two beaters, Anthony Harrison and Cole Nicholson, had been the first to notice Harry's predicament before he could swing back on, and promptly burst out laughing.

Well, this caught everyone else's attention, and soon they were all cackling like a pack of hyenas, even after Harry managed to get back aboard his broom.

Ginny, however, looked torn between being horrified and laughing out loud.

Needless to say, Harry was extremely embarrassed. He was relieved when Wood called for practice to end fifteen minutes later.

Why did Ginny always do this to him?

* * *

**((And there you go. The next chapter starts to get good, and the H/G relationship takes a turn for the better. BUT you won't get to read it unless I get 50 reviews. I don't care if they're anonymous, or if you post five times as anonymous, get to 50! Good luck.))**


	5. Chapter 5

**((No, I was not aware that you cannot post a review more than once. I got the number of reviews idea off of a fic that I once read, and thought it was a good idea. I used it because it gave me a reason to take an extra day or two to elaborate more on the chapters, and check for spelling mistakes. I'm not online every day. I have school from eight to four. Then homework in the evenings. Many authors don't post for weeks at a time. One fic I'm reading is updated _maybe _once a month. You guys are lucky. The most I've gone without posting is about four days. I'm gonna start dating these now with the day I update. I don't care how many reviews I get anymore, I just thought it was a fun thing to do, and sort of like a challenge for you guys. So SOR_RY_ if you didn't like it. I considered not posting at all, but there are some _nice_ readers out there, and I didn't want to punish them, too. Harry does explain why he was like that to Ginny, BTW, but it's not for a while. So here you are, chapter five. Oh, and today is Saturday, October 1, 2005.))**

* * *

"Where's Harry gone off to?" Ginny asked her brother. 

"Off somewhere, probably brooding about what happened. He said something about the park."

"I'm gonna go see if he's alright."

"How long will you be gone?" Ron asked, glancing at Hermione, who immediately turned red.

"EW! Oh God, you two are dis_gust_ing. Ugh! I'll be sure to keep Harry out of the house for at least an hour." Ron gave her a look. "Hour and a half?" Another look. "Like you could go any longer. Freak." He glared at her. "FINE! You have two hours. No more, no less. Believe me, I'll be walking, excuse me, _apparating_ through that door at exactly," Ginny glanced at her watch, "one-thirty-seven and… twenty-six seconds." She set her alarm on her watch to go off then. "Maybe we'll get some lunch or something… What are you two still doing here? The clock is ticking!" They still hadn't budged. "GO!"

Without further ado, Ron and Hermione disapparated to the house to have their naughty way with each other.

* * *

Ginny appeared in the middle of a bunch of trees, thankful that a muggle wasn't around. She walked out and immediately found Harry sitting on a bench staring into space. 

"_I wonder what he's thinking about…" _Ginny thought, slowly walking to Harry's back. _"Maybe I should just hear him out. I mean... it can't do any harm, can it? Stop it, Ginny. You can't let your feelings get the better of you." _She was right behind him now. _"Oh, God… he's so amazing! No! I don't love him. I can't let myself even _think_ that."_

Ginny put her hands over Harry's eyes, and whispered seductively in his ear, "Guess Who?"

"_Ohmigod, did I just say that!"_

"Ginny?" Harry's voice was unusually high. He coughed and said, "Ginny, what are you doing?" He could feel her warm breath against his cheek, and her breasts were pressing into his back, and he was starting to feel hot. _"Why the hell is she doing this to me? Doesn't she realize what effect this is having on me?"_

"Well, Ron and Hermione are, erm… _busy_, and they asked me to keep you out of the house for a couple of hours," Ginny replied, sitting next to Harry on the bench. "So… I was thinking that we could try this little Italian restaurant in town… it's a Muggle place, so you won't be goggled at. The only thing is, it's a pretty fancy-schmancy place, suits and ties, dresses… and our clothes are a bit… _casual_."

"It definitely sounds good. Come 'ere for a second." Harry led her over to the trees that Ginny had just apparated from, pulled out his wand, and tapped her on the head. He then proceeded to do the same to himself.

Ginny looked at Harry and had to resist the urge to jump him right then and there. He was wearing a handsome black suit, and it fit him perfectly.

She then proceeded to take in her appearance, and her jaw fell open in shock. She was wearing a black satin dress that hugged her curves and flowed to the floor. It was a spaghetti-strap dress, but Harry had provided a small black jacket to go with it. She was wearing black open-toed shoes, her nails had magically been painted red, and her make-up done perfectly.

"How… how did… no, _where _did you learn to do that?" Ginny spluttered.

"It's old magic. I found it in an ancient book at Hogwarts once. Do you like it?"

"Like it?" she asked incredulously. "I _love _it!

"So, to the restaurant then?"

"To the restaurant. I'll lead the way." Ginny walked out onto a path and led the way. It wasn't long before they came to a beautiful black-bricked building.

"This is it."

Harry stared. "Wow. This is… amazing!"

"I know. I was here once, during Hermione's bachelorette party. The food here is just exquisite!" Ginny exclaimed, leading the way into the restaurant. The maître d' told them that they were just in time; the lunch rush would be arriving within the next ten minutes.

"What looks good to you?" Ginny asked the black-haired boy across the table.

"Oh, I dunno… it all looks yummy," Harry said with a grin.

Their waitress arrived with their drinks, and the two decided to order.

"I'll have the lasagna," Ginny said politely. "Is there any way I could get fries with that?"

"Uh… of course… And for you sir?" the girl asked Harry.

"How 'bout the chicken Parmesan?"

"Wonderful choice, sir! That is my favorite, personally," the waitress said, winking. She then turned and headed back to the kitchens.

"So…" Ginny began, starting to regret the whole lunch outing. What would she and Harry find to talk about?

"So… what?"

"Um… what's been happening since I left?"

"Well, Percy and Penelope's daughter Paula learned to walk… and she can say 'dada', 'mama', and a large variety of swear words."

Ginny grinned.

"Fleur is pregnant, did you know?" Harry continued. "Four months, I think… maybe five…"

"Yeah, I heard that. Mum sent me an owl. There were giant splotches all over it where she was crying… very hard to read…"

Harry laughed. "I can only imagine. What's going on in Romania?"

"Well, we've finally gotten Norbert under control. There's a herd of four Ridgebacks up there, and it's taken the better part of the past eight years to train them. Norbert was the most difficult… only responded to me and Garrett. It was quite odd, actually. We didn't have _near_ as much trouble with the others, they liked all six of the other trainers."

Harry stopped listening at this point, and instead started watching the gorgeous girl sitting across from him. He noticed that she kept fidgeting. She would run her hand through her hair, then play with the napkin on her lap, and eventually, she would pick up a fork or spoon and twirl it between her fingers. She was also staring fixedly at the top of her wine glass, never even glancing at Harry.

He certainly didn't mind; now she couldn't catch him looking at her.

"Harry, are you listening to me?" Ginny asked, snapping him out of his reverie.

"What? Yes, of course!"

"What did I just say?" she smirked.

"Uh… Norbert got a bad sunburn…. on his leg."

"_Charlie_ got a _burn_ on his _back_! Men. You're all the same…"

"Not all of us! Some are very polite, even when they're starving and have an extremely large distraction sitting in front of him. I, on the other hand," he pointed to himself, "am easily distracted. Ask Ron. There was this one time –"

Luckily, the food arrived then, and Ginny was spared from listening to one of Harry's stories.

They ate their lunch in silence, and Harry even ate dessert.

By the time they were finished, it was quarter to one.

"Wow, we were in there for a while!" Ginny remarked while leaving the black building.

"Does seem odd, doesn't it? Guess we're just slow eaters," Harry said with a grin.

The pair headed back to the park, and sat on the bench where they had been over an hour before.

They sat in silence for a while before Harry said, "So, I guess you'll want out of that dress?"

Ginny looked at him, took a momentary look at herself, and then focused her attention back on Harry. "Can't I keep it? It's a magnificent outfit… maybe I could wear it to the reunion?"

Harry grinned, staring straight ahead. "Course you can keep it. I just want out of _this_." He gestured to the tux he was wearing. He then glanced around for muggles, and proceeded to tap himself on his head with his wand. He magically appeared in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt sporting the words _The Weird Sisters_ on it.

The conversation was polite for the rest of their time together.

Ginny glanced at her watch.

"Ron and Hermione's time's almost up… they've got about a minute left. What do you say we apparate right into their room, give 'em a scare?"

"_You_ can do that. I'll go right into my room, thankyouverymuch. Catching Ron and 'Mione in the act – again – does not appeal to me."

And with that, the two disappeared, just as Ginny's watch started beeping.

**

* * *

((The end. I'm _really_ pissed right now. R and R.))**


	6. Chapter 6

**((Right. Here's chapter 6. I combined two chapters together, so this is pretty long… I think. So if the transition isn't very good in one place, that's why. Today is Wednesday, October 05, 2005. Have fun.))**

* * *

The two boys had just gotten back from practice, and Ron had a date with his wifey-poo, so he hurried to get dressed for the date. Harry saw Ginny stretched out on the couch in the parlor, so he summoned a book and walked in. 

"May I join you?"

"Harry! When did you get home?"

"Just now. Can I sit here?" he asked, referring to the armchair across from the sofa.

"Oh! 'Course you can."

Harry sat down and started reading a very thick black leather book.

"'S that?"

"Hmm? This? Riddle's old journal. I never really got around to reading it; after I… er… _defeated_ Voldemort, I kind of forgot about it. Didn't really seem important."

Ginny looked at it. "He… he had another one?"

"Yeah, I was surprised, too."

Ginny continued to stare for another moment or two, and then returned to her magazine.

They read in silence for about ten minutes when Ron came down the stairs.

"Ok. I gotta go meet Hermione. See you two later."

"Bye!"

Not long after Ron left, Harry started to get distracted by none other than Ginny Weasley. She would lift her hips and move to another spot. Then she would do it again. And again. He couldn't concentrate on the journal, and found himself staring at her. He didn't think that she even realized what she was doing. She persisted for quite a while, and Harry was extremely close to yelling at her.

_"STOP FUCKING THE GODDAMNED COUCH!"_

But no, that was rude. If she didn't stop though…

"Ginny!" he said, rather harshly.

"What?"

"What are you doing?" His voice cracked.

"I can't get comfortable."

"Well, stop it!"

She threw him a very nasty look. "Fine! If I didn't know better, I'd say you had a bad case of PMS." And with that, she stormed out of the room.

Harry was sort of glad: if she had't've left, he would've been forced to in a mater of seconds to attend to some… er… _business_.

* * *

"Stupid Harry… thinks he can… oooo he makes me so MAD! Why is he so stupid? Doesn't want me to get comfortable… I'll show him… so STUPID! Ugh, why are all men so retarded? First my brothers, then Harry, I go to Romania assuming I can get away from it all, then Garrett shows up, and now Harry again! All men are _stupid_! MOTHERFUC –" Ginny had been ranting on her way down to the pool. She wasn't watching where she was going, tripped on the edge of the pool, and promptly fell in. 

"Ginerva Molly Weasley! That is no way to talk!" A shrill female voice came from the side of the pool.

"Whozair?"

"I am appalled at you, Ginerva Weasley. Didn't even tell your own MOTHER that you were coming home, but you tell Hermione! I understand you've been back for over a week now! Couldn't even get all the details! I had to get it out of R… find it out for myself."

"RON! I'm gonna MURDER him! GOD! That is why I NEVER tell him ANYTHING!" Ginny ducked under the water to get her hair out of her face, then climbed out of the pool.

"Where is he? Oooh, I bet he knew you were coming today, and that's why he left in such a rush. Believe you me, the SECOND he walks through that door, I'll hex him to America!" She had wrapped a towel around herself, and quickly dried her hair.

"Ginny," her mother started in a tone that clearly said _ignore-your-half-wit-brother-and-listen-to-what-I-have-to-say_. "If you would've told me that you were coming home, you could've had your old room back –"

"Which is _exactly_ what I didn't want! I grew up there, mum, and there are very few _happy _memories."

"Point taken. But you could've at least let me organize a Welcome Home Ginny party. Oooh, a party! You know what? I think I will. Oh, it'll be amazing!"

"Mum –"

"With flowers and balloons and oh, I'll have to make so much food. This will be so much fun! That settles it. I'll plan a GIANT Welcome Home party!"

"Mum!"

"But don't let anyone else know that you're home; that'll spoil the surprise. There's so much work to do! It'll be next Saturday, and then the week after that is your reunion, so you'll see old friends." Before Ginny could utter another word, Mrs. Weasley had disapparated back to the Burrow.

It wasn't until after Ginny went into her room to change out of her suit that she realized what her mother had said.

"_The reunion is in ten days. TEN! Holy shit! I haven't done anything to get ready! I don't even have a dress! Oh man, this is bad! Maybe I'll wear that one I wore at lunch with Harry…"_

* * *

Ginny was awoken the next morning to the sound of a high-pitched squealing. 

"_If she doesn't shut the fuck up I will personally shoot her."_

Ginny looked at the digital clock on her bedside table.

"It's five-forty in the freaking morning! What is Hermione playing at!" 

The boys were at practice all day, there was a game tomorrow night, so it was just Ginny and Hermione in the house. She tried to roll over and fall back asleep, but the shrieking kept getting louder as Hermione came towards her sister-in-law's room.

"GINNY! WAKE UP! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!"

"Hermione. It is not even six-oh-clock yet. Go. To. Sleep." She smiled and rolled over.

"I'm pregnant."

Silence. Then…

"OMIGOD OMIGOD OMIGOD! I'M GONNA BE AN AUNT! AGAIN!" Ginny immediately jumped out of bed, and soon the two girls were hugging and jumping around the room.

"When did you find out? Does Ron know? Mum? Mum! We have to tell her! Ohhh, we can finally finish one of the rooms upstairs! This is GREAT! You're having a BABY! This is so AWESOME!"

The two girls collapsed on the floor, the breath knocked out of them.

"I just found out – bought one of those muggle pregnancy tests. So, no, Ron doesn't know yet. And _I _would like to be the one to tell him the good news. Him and everyone else for that matter. I was thinking about telling your family on Saturday… if that's okay with you, I mean."

"Fine with me. I didn't even want the stupid thing." Mrs. Weasley obviously didn't trust Ginny to invite anyone, so she had taken it upon herself to send out invitations.

"This is so amazing! Ron's wanted kids since the day we got married, but I felt that we needed time to ourselves first… plus my career had just started and I also thought that I was too young to have kids."

The two sat in a content silence for a while, but Ginny eventually broke it.

"Out."

"What?"

"I'm going back to bed. Out."

"Fine! Kick the closest thing you've ever had to a sister out of your room when she's with child!"

Ginny gave her a strange look. "You know, 'Mione, you can be so WEIRD sometimes."

Hermione left the room making as much noise as possible, and Ginny quickly cast silencing, privacy, and locking charms on the door and walls.

"Ha. Let's see her barge in now!" 

Ginny fell asleep seconds after she hit the pillow.

* * *

The Chudley Cannons won. Again. The other teams had basically no chance of winning, so they essentially gave up before they even started. 

As soon as the foursome returned home, Hermione broke the news to Ron. He was literally bouncing off the walls with happiness.

She had tried over the past three days to tell him subtly, but he never seemed to catch on. She had knitted outfits, left a few bottles lying around, and even went so far as to start on the nursery. He and Harry never seemed to cotton on. Well, Harry might've, but he didn't want to spoil anything for Ron.

The house was really quite amazing. There was a smaller room between Ron and Hermione's room and Harry's that, when they bought the house, they had all decided would be made into a nursery. It had three doors in it: one connecting to Harry's room, one to the hallway, and one to the couple's room. It had been built with the _intent_ of becoming a nursery (though it could've been anything they wanted it to… it could've been removed if they wanted to); therefore one or more walls could be made transparent or soundproof at will. All they had to do was pick out the colors and furniture, and everything would be perfect.

"I think orange, for the Cannons! It would grow up a fan and never be embarrassed of its dad."

"First of all, orange will traumatize our baby Ronald. A child cannot function right after living in an orange or red room."

"My room was orange!" Ron retorted.

"Precisely. And second of all, my baby is not an _it_."

"_Our_ baby."

"Not if you keep calling him or her _it_."

"Guys!" Harry interrupted the couple's bantering. "Seriously, shut up. _Some_ of us are trying to sleep in the next room. Put that silencing charm up or something. Just… shut up!"

The duo did eventually go to sleep – on the nursery room floor, the walls spattered with orange and a periwinkle blue.

* * *

Harry got out of the pool the next morning and headed up to the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he got there, he found the two bathroom doors were shut. Ron was in the one in Harry's bedroom, and when he knocked on the other, a female voice called for him to come in. Assuming it was Hermione, he did. 

He had been in the bathroom plenty of times when Hermione was showering. It had almost become normal. He started a conversation with her while brushing his teeth.

"Tho, about thith party today, when doeth it end?"

"Whenever mum decides to wrap it up."

Harry laughed, but thought Hermione sounded a bit funny.

He rinsed his mouth out. "You getting a cold or something?"

"No, I'm fine." The water went off. "Will you hand me a towel?"

Harry handed it to her, but the arm that emerged from behind the curtain was not the tan one he expected. Instead, a pale, freckly one appeared instead.

"Hermione?"

"No…" Ginny stepped out of the shower, towel wrapped around her.

"Ginny! Sorry!" Harry quickly closed his eyes and turned around, heading for the door, but Ginny's voice stopped him.

"Wait a minute…so it's ok, Harry James Potter, for you to be in here with your best friend's wife, but not a single woman?"

"No. I… I just…"

"Spit it out, Potter."

"I shouldn't be here." He turned to the door, but found it stuck.

"_Oh. Crap."_

He turned around, eyes still closed. "It's just… you're my best friend's little sister, and I, personally, like being alive. So if you'll excuse me…" He tried the door again.

"_Hot damn! It's almost as if someone's holding the stupid thing shut!"_

"Stuck." He finally looked at Ginny. She looked amazing. He hadn't seen her with her hair down since she arrived, and it was a bit past shoulder length. The skimpy towel she had wrapped around her showed off her slim figure. It was all he could do not to sweep her into his arms and profess his undying love for her. He felt his lower member twitch.

"_Oh. Holy. Fuck. Uh… Martha Stewart in the rain. Martha Stewart in the rain. Martha Stewart in the rain. Oh man, this is DEFINATLELY not working."_

"Harry, are you ok? You're all… red and… sweaty."

"Yeah," he squeaked. "Ahem, I mean, yeah, fine."

"_Men. They're all so stupid. Look, he's turning around again! Geez! I could just disapparate out of here… but where's the fun in that? I like watching him squirm."_

In a final attempt, Harry faced the door again. He was ready to start pounding on it if need be, but now that he thought about it, Hermione was probably in the shower with Ron, and they wouldn't be out for another half our at least.

"_Mrs. Weasley in the rain. Professor McGonnagal in the rain. Snape in the rain! Ugh, too creepy. Hannah Abbot? Dammit, why does Ginny do this to me!"_

"Hey, Harry? Why don't you just –?"

"Harry? Ginny? Where are you two?" Ron's voice came from the hallway.

"In here. The door's stuck."

With the combined effort of Harry, Hermione, and Ron, the door easily opened. Ron immediately realized how much trouble Harry was in, and nearly burst out laughing.

"So, what were you doing to my sister?"

"What? Nothingletmethrough."

"Mmmm hmmm. So what did he do to you, Gin?"

"Oh, Ron," Ginny said, grinning. Her arms were crossed in front of her, and Harry's back was to her. "It was horrible! He kept coming towards me, and he wouldn't leave! Then he pretended that the door was jammed so he could do whatever he wanted to me." She had finally realized what was wrong with Harry, and found it almost comical.

"_Am I really doing that to him?"_

"What!" Harry asked in a strangled voice. "Ron, nothing happened! Let me out."

"Denial."

"Let. Me. Out."

"Make me." Ron was easily three inches taller than Harry, but knew that Harry could take him out in a heartbeat. The thing was, this was too funny to pass up.

"Ron! LETMETHEFUCKOUT!" The whole sentence came out in a breath.

"Ok, ok! One last question."

"What?"

"Why didn't you just apparate?"

Harry was livid now. He turned on his heel and disapparated to his room. The second he left, the two siblings burst into laughter.

"I swear, I think I cracked a rib from holding that in."

"Did you see his face!"

The two laughed for a bit longer, then Ron left to let his sister get ready in peace.

* * *

"No, no, Paula, Gin-ny. Can you say that?" 

"A-yunt Hinny! A-yunt Hinny!" Ginny rolled her eyes.

"It's hopeless." She handed the toddler to Penelope, then whispered in her brother's ear, "Must be a Clearwater thing."

Percy grinned. "Better not let her hear that." Six years ago, when Ginny was eighteen, Percy came crawling back to the family. He was received with open arms from his mother and Bill, but the other six were very reluctant to re-accept him. They did eventually warm up to him, and he now fit nicely into the family.

"She can say _my_ name _just fine_." Harry gloated. "Ron's too."

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him.

"Paula, who's this?"

"Unkie Haiwy." Ginny raised an eyebrow at Harry.

"Just fine, eh?"

The night went on uneventfully, except for Mrs. Weasley's stories of her children when they were younger.

"Hermione, did you ever hear the story about Ron and the time he went 'swimming' in the pond in the woods?"

"No…"

"Well, he was nine years old –"

"MUM!" Ron interrupted. "Really, she – and everyone else in the room – really don't want to hear this story."

"Really, Ron, I think they do," George said with a smirk.

"Georgey, honey, you really shouldn't poke fun… especially since your mother told me about when you first learned to ride a bike," Angelina told her boyfriend.

"Wha – MA!" George's face immediately flushed a deep shade of red, and his twin immediately burst out laughing.

Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes. "Ok, I'll just give you the gist of it. 90 degrees. Ronny here goes skinny-dipping. There's a school of fish in that pond. He comes running back butt-naked, a fish hanging off his –"

"MUM!"

The whole room was already filled with the snickers, snorts, and laughter of friends and family, and Ron had turned a deep crimson. Hermione was definitely laughing the hardest.

Dinner was served roughly forty-five minutes later. As dessert was being served, Hermione glanced at her husband. He stood up and cleared his throat, Hermione doing the same.

"Uh... everybody? Could I have your attention, please?" The room immediately quieted down. Ron looked lost for words, so Hermione cut in.

"Well, we have good news."

"You just saved a bunch of money on your car insurance?" Fred joked. Bill shot him a look and he shut up.

"I'm pregnant."

There was silence. **((Dejavu, eh?)) **Then, suddenly…

"MY YOUNGEST SON IS HAVING A BABY! AHHHHH!" Mrs. Weasley went insane with happiness, hugging everyone in reach. Angelina, Fleur, and Penelope all simultaneously lunged for Hermione, squeezing her from all angles.

Harry looked on from the sidelines, wishing to have that happiness for himself.

On the other side of Hermione, Ginny was thinking about the same thing.

"_I need to find me someone to love. I want a baby! I want a husband! Why can't I be happy like that? Is that too much to ask?" _The four girls went into the living room with Mrs. Weasley, while Ron, his brothers, and father went into the parlor. Only Harry and Ginny were left.

"_I bet Harry's had TONS of girlfriends. He probably has one now that I don't know about. Wait, why do I care? I hate Harry. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him. Crap, who am I kidding? I love him so much! I want to spend the rest of my life with him, but I don't think I can trust him. Ever again."_

Without realizing it, Ginny had been staring straight at Harry for a long time without blinking, her mouth slightly open. Needless to say, he was starting to get freaked out.

"Uh… Ginny? Are you okay? You're… you're looking at me kind of funny…"

"Huh? Oh, yeah… just thinking."

"'Bout what?"

"Nothing, really." _"If only you knew, you poor, clueless bastard."_

"Suuure." Harry got up and joined the boys in the parlor. Ginny soon followed Hermione into the living room, where the girls were talking about baby clothes and motherhood.

* * *

**((Ok. There's chapter 6. Sorry it took so long to update; I'm involved with the Haunted Trail here, and it's taken up all of my free time. OK. New rule. Ten more reviews before I post the next chapter. That's a compromise. Don't complain.))**


	7. Chapter 7

**((Today is October 10, 2005. This is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE CHAPTER in the whole story! Before you read it, though, play the song _Can't Help Falling In Love With You_ ****in the background while you're reading this… believe me, the effect is astounding. It won't let me post the website though, so if you want it Email me. It needs Windows Media player to work though. Try not to read this w/o the song, because it is SO MUCH better with it. Trust me on this one. But if you do, it's ok.))**

* * *

The following night, Harry was running errands, Ron and Hermione were away until morning, and Ginny was left on her own. 

She had been swimming for the first hour or so that she was alone, but started to get bored. She had taken a shower, and dressed in a pair of comfortable black pajama pants and an old Chudley Cannons tee that clashed horribly with her hair.

She wandered downstairs, pulling her wet hair up into a loose bun on the top of her head. Harry had bought a muggle music player, and he and Hermione often played DEs… or something like that. She popped one in, and pressed the triangular button that Hermione said made the music start. 

A deep male voice immediately came out of the speakers. Ginny turned it up a notch or two, and then flopped on the couch. She listened to the first few songs, which were very upbeat… when a slow one came on.

Wise man say… only fools rush in… but I can't help… falling in love… with… you. 

Ginny immediately decided she liked the song.

Shall I stay? 

She picked up a pillow, and, hugging it close to her body, started to dance.

Would it be… a… sin? 

She closed her eyes, and let the music carry her away.

_If I can't help… falling in love… with… you._

Harry walked in the front door, and upon hearing the music, he carefully put his bags down and crept to the living room. What he saw was almost heartbreaking.

Ginny Weasley was standing in the middle of the room holding a pillow, tears pouring from her closed eyes.

Like a river flows… surely to the sea… 

Harry walked over to her.

Darling so it goes… 

He was standing right in front of her.

Some things… are meant to be… 

He spoke, in a soft, quiet voice. "May I cut in?"

Take… my hand… 

"Of course." Ginny's voice was quiet, filled with sadness.

_Take my whole… life… too…_

The pillow had been discarded, and Harry wrapped his right arm around Ginny's waist, taking her left hand in his right.

_For I can't help… falling in love… with… you._

Ginny face was still a bit wet from crying, and as she looked at Harry, her eyes were unnaturally bright from unshed tears. "Oh, Harry… I…"

"Shhh, Ginny… it's okay. _I_ should be apologizing, not you. I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I was scared, Ginny. Scared of loosing you. Afraid that if I told you how I really felt, you would be used as bait to get to me. Can you forgive me?"

Like a river flows… 

A single tear fell onto her cheek. Harry wiped it away. "I already have."

Surely to the sea… 

Ginny guided his left hand to her waist, then wrapped her arms around him.

Darling so it goes… 

"Harry. I still love you," she said shakily into his chest. "I never stopped loving you, and I will keep loving you until the day I die."

Some things… are meant to be… 

"And if you choose to ignore that… then that's your problem."

Take… my hand… 

The couple danced together, staring into each other's eyes.

Take my whole… life… too… 

"Gin…" and to her complete surprise, he began to sing along with the words. He had a marvelous singing voice.

_For I…. can't help… falling in love… with… you._

_For I… can't help… falling in love…with… you…_

He flicked his wand, and the song came on again, quieter this time, and the two kept dancing.

"Ginny… every time I see you, I fall in love all over again. I hated seeing you, and not being able to be with you." He pulled the girl closer to him. "I love you with all my heart, and I will never hurt you again, I promise."

"Oh, Harry…" she looked deep into his eyes, lost for words.

_Would it be… a… sin? If I… can't help… falling in love… with… you._

He softly brought his lips down upon hers.

_SOME THINGS… ARE MEANT TO BE…_

"I love you, Harry James Potter."

"And I love you, Ginerva Molly Weasley."

The two then sang the rest of the song together.

_Take… my hand… take my whole… life… too… For I… can't help… falling in love… with… you…._

_Like a river flows… surely to the sea… Darling so it goes… some things… are meant to be…_

_Take… my hand… take my whole… life… too… For I… can't help… falling in love… with… you…_

_FOR I… CAN'T HELP… FALLING IN LOVE… WITH… YOU!_

* * *

When Ron and Hermione came home early Monday morning, they were surprised by the site that welcomed them; Harry and Ginny had fallen asleep on the couch, a fire burning in the inglenook and a blanket wrapped around the two of them. Both had a content smile on their faces. **((A/N: yes, "inglenook" is a real word. It means fireplace.))**

Ron looked as though he wanted to scream at Harry for touching his sister, but he also looked like he wanted to scream "FINALLY" and congratulate them. The latter did not win out.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING! GET THE HELL OFF MY SISTER!"

Harry and Ginny awoke with a start, and Ginny instantly fell off the couch.

"Ow…" she moaned, rubbing her backside. She looked confused, and then saw a livid Ron screaming at her at three thirty in the morning.

"RONALD WEASLEY! WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING! YOU DO NOT CONTROL ME! I HAVE A LIFE; LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!" If she got any more furious, steam would be pouring out of her ears. She took a deep breath in, and slowly let it out.

Harry shot a sheepish look at his best friend. "Hello. You're home early. Heh heh."

Hermione looked around the room. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Out of nowhere, she burst into a fit of giggles. "What took you two so long?" She then grabbed Ron's arm and disapparated into their bedroom.

Ginny was still standing in the middle of the room, eyes closed, breathing deeply.

Harry walked over to her. "You all right?" he asked softly, rubbing her shoulders.

"Yeah. I should be used to this, I guess. It's the other four you need to worry about. Oh shit. Oh shit. SHIT!" She covered her face with her hands, rubbing vigorously.

"When they find out… all five of them… oh holy shit…" she turned and glanced at Harry. "You may be The Boy Who Lived, but if you answer wrong, you'll be The Boy Who Defeated Voldemort But Was Then Murdered By His Girlfriend Ginny Weasley's Psychotic Brothers."

"A—answer wrong?" Harry looked nervous.

"I'm not allowed to say anything… but… don't crack under the pressure." She grimaced. "And… good luck."

Harry looked much paler as he headed back up to bed.

* * *

Harry did not sleep well throughout the rest of the night, and didn't fall asleep until close to seven-thirty. Even then, it was an extremely restless sleep. 

He didn't wake up until after quarter to eleven, and skipped swimming that morning, instead taking a shower and heading down to brunch.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Hermione said, smiling as Harry tripped down the last few stairs. "Sleep well?"

Harry smirked at her, narrowly missing the coffee table as he stumbled to the kitchen. He made himself a cup of coffee, then pulled a half-eaten bologna sandwich out of the fridge.

"How old is this?"

"I ate the other half an hour ago," Hermione answered him. "There's mustard, pickles, and chocolate chips on it."

Harry gave her a strange look. "Chocolate chips?"

She pointed to her stomach. "Pregnant."

"Hardly a week!"

Harry shook his head, then proceeded to take a large bite out of the sandwich. "Tho, air 's vrybody?"

"What? Swallow, please." Hermione rolled her eyes. _"Men."_

"Where is everybody?"

"Ron and Ginny decided to take a 'sibling day', whatever that is. So it's just you and me."

Harry grabbed the _Prophet _and started reading the cover story while eating the bologna/chocolate sandwich. Hermione was watching him impatiently.

"What!"

"Must you eat so slow?"

Harry took a pointedly slow bite, chewing twenty times before swallowing. "Yes."

He slowly finished his sandwich, and then looked directly at his best friend. "So how's the Ginny thing going?"

"Actually, we kind of forgot about it… oops, heh heh."

"Tsk tsk. Well, you only have five days left. I'd get a move on if I were you, or else be doomed to pool cleaning, nasty teeth, and cooking classes."

"Hardy-har-har. Get that Jacuzzi ready for us. Hey… you know, that isn't really a fair deal… 300 galleons and the use of a Jacuzzi?"

"I'll throw in setting up the baby crib, too. Ron seems to have trouble doing simple things like that."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No magic, though."

"Fiiine," he sighed. "And you can do a lot in a Jacuzzi. Just not while I'm sleeping."

The two spent the rest of the day catching up on things, and around one-oh-clock Mrs. Weasley stuck her head through the floo, and invited the foursome for lunch and _stuff_ (she wouldn't specify any more) on the following Thursday.

* * *

**((Ok, I know chapter 7 was a REALLY short chapter, but, like I said, it's my favorite one. The next chapter, ehh not so much, so I gave you this one first. Ok, I say… fifteen reviews before I update. Mwahahaha.))**


	8. Chapter 8

**((Ok. Like I said at the end of chapter 7, this chapter is probably my least favorite so far. The beginning part, anyways. Today is Thursday, October 12, 2005. I finally caught up with what I was typing; the end of this chapter is as far as I've typed. So the next chapter is going to be either really short or won't be posted for (at the most) a week. Okay. Chapter Eight Ahoy!))**

**

* * *

**

**Thursday**

Turns out the _stuff_ that Mrs. Weasley mentioned was some very late Spring Cleaning.

"Ok, finish the jobs I've assigned you (Hermione, dear, I need your help with lunch, I don't want you to do any damage to my new little niece or nephew) then report back for lunch around one. NO MAGIC!" The twenty or so people sat there, looking around in bewilderment. "What are you waiting for? Go!"

Harry and Ron set off to clean out the shed, Ginny and Fleur to the attic (much to Ginny's horror), the boys to de-gnome the garden, the rest of the girls to different bedrooms and bathrooms, and the children to either help dust or help in the kitchen.

As soon as Harry arrived in the shed, he knew something was wrong. It looked nothing like what he supposed a shed would look like. Instead, there was a chair much like the ones at the ministry (the ones with chains on it), a small table in front of it, and a single, broken light bulb that flashed on and off sporadically hanging from the ceiling.

"Ron? Wha –"

But Ron had muttered a spell, and Harry was magically thrown into the chair, and the chains immediately attached to his arms, legs, and one with what looked like a metal tongs were by the er… _crotch_ area, and Harry looked at it precariously.

"Ron?"

Ron turned to Harry. "Sorry, man. But it must be done."

"What must? What's going on? Lemme go!"

Ron touched a small, green-colored rock that had been in his pocket, and moments later Bill, Percy, and the twins had apparated into the tool shed.

Fred immediately cast privacy and silencing charms around the little room.

George had turned to Harry, an evil grin appearing on his face. "Has Ginny said anything to you?"

"A—about what?" Harry's voice cracked.

"About when we get a hold of you," Bill said.

"Yeah, actually, she did. She said not to crack under the pressure, then wished me good luck." Harry looked extremely nervous, but a small grin appeared on his face, as if he wanted to laugh.

"You'll need it," Ron piped up from the back of the room. He then stepped into the light, joining his older brothers at the table.

"Harry James Potter, if that really is your name –" Fred began.

"It is. Anything having to do with Voldemort has my name in it. Check for yourselves," Harry interrupted, smirking.

"Yeah, shut-the-fuck-up and let me continue with this. Most of her other boyfriends would've pissed their pants by now."

Harry stared to laugh, but quickly turned it into a cough; he didn't want to make this worse than it already was.

"Anyways," Fred continued exasperatedly, "Ginny has an enchantment on her that restricts her from telling anybody about what we do in here. We choose not to place the charm on her boyfriends, but they seem to understand that if they tell anyone they will be _hunted down_. Kapiche?"

"Yeah, got it." Harry glanced at the contraption he was sitting in. "So… what is this thing?"

"Ah, so glad you asked, Harry," Bill replied, stepping out of the shadows. "Most of the time we explain this _after_ it's been used." A grin slowly spread across his face.

"It's like those muggle polygraphs, essentially a lie detector," Ron explained, "except instead of those stupid little lines, it… well, you can imagine."

"One of _my_ little inventions," George boasted.

"So if you plan on having children, we recommend answering our questions truthfully."

Harry eyed the chair nervously. "Got it."

"We'll start easy, then progressively get harder. We have about half an hour," George said. "We start with the oldest and work our way down. Bill, care to start the interrogation?"

"Of course." He turned to Harry. "Name?"

"Harry James Potter."

Percy was next. "Age?"

"Twenty-seven."

George: "Last girlfriend's name was…?"

"Ginny Weasley."

"Dude, that's extremely sad."

"Yeah, I know." The chain twitched as Harry answered. He grinned sheepishly.

Fred: "Still a virgin?"

"Ye…" the 'tongs' jumped excitedly. "No."

"Very good, we're learning fast."

Ron: "Can I skip my turn? I mean, he _is _my best mate…"

Fred: "No! Ask him something stupid then."

Ron: "Eurgh… fine… um, parent's names?"

"James and Lily Potter."

Bill rolled his eyes. "Idiot. So, who'd you lose your virginity to?"

"You won't like the answer."

"Mmmm Hmmm. Did we mention that you only have ten seconds to answer before…"

"HOLY FFfahh…" Harry bit his tongue, trying not to yell out in pain. "No, you did _not_ mention that, thankyouverymuch."

Bill: "So, virginity was lost to…"

"Ginny."

The boys all gave an involuntary shudder.

"Needed to know that, thanks."

"Hey, you asked."

Percy: "STDs?"

"What!"

"Clock is ticking…"

Harry sighed. "Nothing red, itchy, puss-y, or puffy to report."

George: "How many girlfriends have you had?"

"Three."

"Again, that's sad…"

Ron: "Oh, hush-up-your-mouth. _You _may be a pimp, but the rest of us aren't."

"Thank you."

Fred: "Aaaaanywaaays. Harry. Are you aware that you hurt our little sister nine years ago? Left her heartbroken, crying, and alone in Romania with Charlie? By the way, if he were here, you would not be leaving this shed alive."

"Yes, I am aware of that."

Ron (who seemed to have found his voice): "Then why do it?"

"That's… personal…"

Ron: "Nine… eight… seven…"

"I was scared. I knew that if I came out in the open with my… er… _feelings_ for her, the remaining Death Eaters might come after her and… well, it was too painful to think about."

Fred: "Good answer. Stick to it."

Bill: "So you do care about her, then?"

The light flashed precariously overhead. Sweat trickled down Harry's face.

"Of course."

George: "Hot in here?"

"No… yes."

Fred: "As hot as Ginny?"

"Hell no."

Ron: "Do you promise to never hurt her again?"

"I can't do that."

"What?"

"I can't do that."

"Explain, please."

"Well," Harry began, "every relationship has its problems. You and Hermione, Bill and Fleur, Fred and Alicia, Percy and Penny, even George and Angelina have had their setbacks. There is absolutely nothing I can do to prevent a fight. They're human, they're part of a relationship. It's gonna happen, and I can't stop it."

"Good answer."

"Yes, I agree."

Bill: "My turn. Do you love her?"

"What?"

"Do you _love_ her?"

Harry was reluctant to answer. He considered his options.

"_If I say yes, they'd know I wasn't lying, but knowing Ron, he'd run right to Hermione, and she'd run to Mrs. Weasley, and the next thing I know, she and the rest of the family are planning our wedding. On the other hand, if I say no, they'd KNOW that I was lying, and then I would probably be beaten to a pulp, anyways."_

Just as he was about to answer, the light above head turned on full blast, temporarily blinding everyone in the room. The door flew open, and the chains around Harry's extremities slackened, then slowly fell to the ground.

Harry peered through his fingers, and was amazed by what he saw; Ginny was standing in the entranceway, hair down around her shoulders (which was rare these days; it was normally up in a bun or something), and she was _fuming_.

"That's enough. You've had your time. I'm not stupid. When you all disappeared from view simultaneously, I kind of figured it out. Time's up. Let him go."

Ginny crossed the length of the room, waving her wand as she went. The room immediately turned back into a regular muggle tool shed. She grasped Harry's arm and pulled him out of the shed and into the woods just behind them.

"Are you okay?"

"What? Yeah! Nothing I couldn't handle," Harry said airily, putting his arms around her waist.

"Mmm hmm… so will there be a future Potter generation?"

"I didn't lie."

"Good to know. So… what did they ask you?"

"None of your business."

Ginny looked deep into Harry's eyes. "Seriously, are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

Harry kissed her, nibbling her lip. She snaked her hands up to his hair, tangling her fingers in his messy black hair. Harry pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. Ginny stumbled, landing against the shed. Harry put his hands on either side of her, as if he was trying to stop her from escaping. Ginny's hands slowly slid down to his hips. The longer they stayed in a lip-lock, the harder it became to breathe.

Ginny broke the kiss. "H—Harry. They'll get s—suspicious if we don't get b—ack."

Harry mocked disappointment. "Aw, Gin. They can't be all that smart…."

Ginny threw him a look.

"Oh all right."

The couple slowly made their way back to the house, hand-in-hand.

* * *

"So we should be getting the moolah and the Jacuzzi soon, right?" Ron asked his wife.

"No. Even though they're dating, she _technically_ hasn't asked him to the Reunion."

"It's in two days! Why weren't you working on this?"

"Why weren't _you_!"

Hermione and Ron were lying in bed, tired after a long day.

"This is _so_ not my fault," Ron retorted.

Hermione flipped over in bed, facing away from her husband.

"I'm going to sleep."

"Hermione!"

"What?"

"You have to be just as concerned as I am!"

"It's a cooking class. Why should I care?"

"You also have to clean the pool."

"And your point is…?"

"Ugh. Forget it. I'm going to bed."

"Ohhh. You just don't want to clean the toilets."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is."

"No, it's not."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Admit it!"

"Admit what!"

"GUYS!" Harry's voice roared from outside the door. "Shut. The. Fuck. Up."

They heard Harry's footsteps travel back down the hall to his room, where he shut the door.

"Yes it is," Hermione whispered.

* * *

Ginny stumbled down the stairs around eight-thirty on Friday morning. Harry was still swimming, Hermione was at work, and, to Ginny's complete surprise, Ron was sitting at the counter drinking coffee.

"You're up early," Ginny yawned.

"Mmm hmm, yeah. So, are you and Harry going to the Reunion together?" Ron inquired, completely ignoring Ginny's comment.

"Duh."

"Did you ask him?"

"Why would I?"

"Well, you know…"

"No, actually, I don't."

"Well, to be all… you know… formal and stuff…"

"Are you high?"

"W—what! No!"

"Are you sure? I caught you once before, and you were all weird like this then, too," Ginny asked.

Ron shot her a look. "I'm not high. Just ask him."

"So that I can 'be all formal and stuff'? You're loosing it, Ronnie-kins. But you may be on to something. I'll ask him."

"Good."

"Seriously, though. What are you on?"

"Nothing!"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Suuure."

Ron stalked out of the room and back to bed.

Ginny watched him go, then made two cups of hot cocoa and put M&Ms in them. **((A/N That's the only way I'll drink hot chocolate. It's really, really good.))**

She then magicked herself into a black bikini with a skimpy little black sundress cover-up and walked down to the pool.

She set the tray of drinks down on one of the petite tables between two sun chairs, took one of the mugs and sat on the chair on the right. She sat sipping her cocoa, watching her beau and waiting for him to notice her. She dug to the bottom of the mug with a spoon, trying to grab the little chocolate candies at the bottom. She was halfway through the hot chocolate when Harry finally came out of the pool.

"Aren't you concerned about getting sunburned?" he asked. "What with the big get-together tomorrow and everything."

"Ehh. I'm a witch. All I wanted was a _natural_ tan, now I have it, and I can do what I want."

The two sat in silence, sipping their hot chocolate. They subconsciously began a slurping contest, seeing who could be louder. It wasn't until Harry nearly choked on his that they realized what they were doing.

"Are you okay!" Ginny laughed.

"Yeah. Burning hot liquid got caught in my lungs. I'm _just fine_," Harry replied indignantly.

Ginny finished her cocoa before Harry did, and made up her mind to go swimming. She glanced at Harry, who was still trying to breathe correctly again, and decided to toy with him.

She walked over to the deep end, the opposite side from where they had been sitting, purposely avoiding Harry's gaze.

She reached up, pulling the clip out of her long red hair and tossing it aside. She then slowly unbuttoned the top button of her dress, undoing each one just as gradually. She could almost hear Harry's ragged breathing from where she was.

When she got to the final button, she slowly shimmied the sundress off of her shoulders and threw in on a chair. She stepped out of her flip-flops, walking closer to the diving board. She stepped up and dived off, performing a perfect flip before landing, hardly making a splash.

Ginny swam the length of the pool, pushed off when she got to the end and swam back, turning once more to finish back by Harry. She leaned on the edge of the pool, exposing her cleavage to her boyfriend.

"_Okay," _Harry thought. _"Just… don't get up any time soon. That's all."_

"You coming in?"

Harry's voice cracked. "Uh… no."

"Aw, come on! Nice and warm…"

"That's all right. I swam already."

"You won't die if you go swimming for more than an hour!" Ginny exclaimed, knowing very well why he wouldn't join her in the pool.

"Really, it's fine here! I'll, er… get a tan."

"Because you don't have one from playing Quidditch…" Ginny said, rolling her eyes.

"Exactly."

Ginny swam a few more laps in the pool, and after the fourth or fifth, Harry got in as well. She slowly sidled up to him.

"So… wanna go to the Reunion with me?"

Harry chuckled. "I guess you talked to Ron then?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" Ginny questioned.

"I'll tell you Saturday night."

"Harry!"

"Saturday! I promise."

The two swam in peace for a while before Ginny asked: "So… is that a yes, then?"

"Of course."

Harry brought his lips down upon Ginny's, slowly kissing his way along her jaw line and down to her neck, one of her own personal spots of weakness. She gasped, and he made his way back to her mouth, nibbling on her lower lip, requesting entrance. She opened her mouth, and he delved in, tentatively touching her tongue. She closed her eyes in ecstasy and boldly entered his mouth. Her mouth opened more, as did his. Harry ran his hands over her hips and down her thighs.

"H—Harry… you—you have p—practice," Ginny panted.

"I can skip it."

"Harry."

"Five more minutes."

"You have to g—go."

Harry unglued himself from Ginny's mouth. They stood, looking at each other for a while, then Harry spoke up.

"Ahh, fine. I'll see you tonight?"

"Nope. Hermione and I are having a girl's night out and then are staying at a hotel. We won't see you two until tomorrow at the Reunion."

"But you'll be home when we get back from practice, right?"

"We're leaving as soon as Hermione gets home."

"Oh." Harry looked extremely disappointed. "So… I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah."

The two shared a final kiss, then Harry climbed out of the pool. Ginny watched contentedly as the love of her life walked slowly up to the house.

* * *

**((Like I said, I really don't like this chapter; poorly written. But I wanted to get it out to you guys. I promise, though, that the next chapter will be a million times better. Definitely my longest chapter so far. Ok. So it's gonna be a while before I post again. R and R, please!))**


	9. Chapter 9

**((A/N: ****Wow. I don't think I've gotten that many reviews on a chapter yet! Well done! In case I didn't say it (I don't think I did), I'm not British, though I would love to be! Honestly. My parents and I even have an agreement that if they win the Powerball they'll send me and a friend to England for college. Anyways… How long is too long or long enough for a chapter? I'm trying to go by what I like, but it looks so different on Microsoft Word. Um… what else? This chapter goes kind of slow, but ehh. Today is October 19, 2005. I've been swamped with homework lately, so you'll probably get an update once a week. Mostly on Friday or Saturday night. Ta!))**

* * *

Hermione and Ginny had spent the day getting manicures, pedicures, and their hair done. **((A/N: I know it's really bad to get your hair done the day before you go somewhere, but they're witches and can change it if they want.))** The only thing left was the dresses.

"So, have one in mind?" Hermione asked her sister-in-law.

"Er… yeah…" Ginny responded, sifting through the clothing rack unenthusiastically. "What color did you want again?"

"Oh, I don't know… light blue maybe… or pale green. Something nice. You?"

"Uh… see… I kind of… alreadyhaveadress."

"You _have_ a dress! _WHY_ didn't you _tell_ me! I wouldn't've dragged you along," Hermione said, more than a bit miffed. "Where, more importantly, _when_ did you get it?"

"Er… well… remember that time I went with Harry to that restaurant?"

"No."

"The day of that Quidditch practice where Harry almost fell off of his broom?"

Hermione gave her a blank look.

"The day the baby was conceived!" Ginny hissed at her friend.

"Ohhh. Heh-heh, yeah."

"Well, when we went to the restaurant, Harry used this old fashioned magic and the next thing I knew I was in this beautiful black dress and my nails were done and, oh… it was perfect."

"So that's why you picked red for your nails! Makes sense now. Still, why didn't you tell me?"

"I dunno, it musta slipped my mind."

"Slipped your mind, yeah," Hermione snorted.

The two searched through the clothing racks a while longer, before finding one Hermione liked. It was a baby blue spaghetti-strap dress with a small light blue sash around the waist and a ruffle of the same color at the top of the dress. The dress was floor length, and the bushy-haired girl purchased a pair of the same light blue colored, open-toed, high-heeled shoes to go with it. She had her nails painted a pale pink, and bought a large bottle of Madame Miriam's All Purpose Hair Gel.

"All right. Let's head back to the hotel. I'm bushed," Ginny said.

* * *

The girls woke up around ten the next morning. They spent the whole day getting ready, and, with forty-five minutes until they had to leave, Hermione and Ginny were finally ready.

Ginny was in the black dress that Harry had "gotten" for her. **((A/N: In case you don't remember what it looks like, I'll post it again here)) **She was wearing a black satin dress that hugged her curves and flowed to the floor. The dress was also a spaghetti-strap, like Hermione's, but Ginny wore a small black jacket with her's. She wore black open-toed shoes and her perfectly manicured nails were a deep scarlet.

"Ok. I think we're ready," Ginny said.

Just as they were about to leave, Hermione burst out laughing.

"What?"

"I'm sorry," Hermione giggled. "I was just thinking about Harry and Ron. They probably had no dinner, and scrambled for breakfast this morning. And then," she laughed harder, and louder, though Ginny hadn't though that it was possible. "And then, we spent all day getting ready, and it probably only took them twenty minutes, tops." Hermione clutched her side and had to sit on the bed.

"And… you find this amusing?"

All Ginny received as an answer was Hermione's tears of laughter pouring down her face.

Ginny looked at her friend as if she had sprouted an extra head. _"I don't get it."_

"Oh, look. Now you've ruined your make-up!"

Hermione disregarded what her sister-in-law said, and continued on. "Imagine if we were there. We'd be getting ready since this morning, and they'd just be starting."

Ginny smiled. Not a normal smile, but one you would give a little kid if they gave you a dirt clod full of worms for your birthday.

"Ok, 'Mione. How much did we have to drink today?" Ginny lifted her friend by the elbow and waved her wand, instantly repairing her make-up.

The brunette gave a half-crazed grin and then took several deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"Alright. I'm ready. Let's go."

Hermione went first, disappearing with a small _pop_. Ginny rolled her eyes again and sincerely hoped that if she got pregnant she wouldn't be near as crazy.

* * *

Harry and Ron arrived at the reunion long before the girls did, and quickly sought out old friends.

"Dean!" Ron yelled across the room, trying to catch his friend's attention. The African-American boy turned, searching for the person who called his name.

"Ron, Harry! Great to see you again! How's everything?"

"Great, Dean. Quidditch is going well –"

"Haven't lost yet, I've heard."

"Yup. Un-de-feat-ed," Ron said, continuing the conversation. Harry tuned out, looking around the room at all of his classmates.

There was Neville, wrapped around Luna. And Lavender, fawning over Seamus, her newly found boyfriend. He saw Padma and Parvati Patil talking animatedly about something to a weary-looking Professor McGonnagal. Fred and George were talking to their old friend Lee Jordan, _"Probably about the Joke Shop,"_ Harry thought.

Everyone looked so happy. Harry also saw the people that _weren't_ there. Dumbledore was missing, and it was blatantly obvious. Ernie MacMillan never made it out of the battle, and neither did the Creevy's, and it just wasn't the same without them. The gamekeeper was nowhere in sight. Harry searched the crowd, then spotted him as he walked through the doors, waving to Hagrid as he walked by. So many were missing, some never to return. Harry sighed. He was snapped out of his reverie by Dean's next question:

"So, how's Ginny been?"

Ron glanced at Harry before answering. "Er… she's just fine."

"Romania's been good, then?"

"Yeah. She really likes it there."

Harry watched silently, wondering why he was asking.

"Good to know," Dean said. He looked over Ron and Harry's shoulders, and his eyes immediately brightened. "Hey, gorgeous."

The two boys immediately spun around to see who he was talking to.

Parvati Patil, dressed in a beautiful pink dress, sidled up to Dean and kissed him on the cheek. Harry inwardly gave a sigh of relief, and Ron was noticeably less worried.

"Parvati, you remember Ron and Harry, right?"

The dark-haired girl glared at Dean. "No. I was in the same house as them for seven years and went to the Yule Ball with Harry, but don't remember anything about either of them," she said sarcastically.

Dean grinned. "Hmm. We'll just have to get reacquainted, won't we?"

Parvati brought a hand up to Dean's face, a ring glinting in the candlelight.

"You two are engaged?" Ron asked in amazement.

"Uh-huh. Wedding's in a month-and-a-half. We can't wait."

The couple stared at each other happily before Dean said, " Well, we better let you two go. More people to see!"

"Have fun!" Parvati called as the pair walked away.

"Who woulda think it?" Ron asked quietly. Harry just shook his head in response.

* * *

"So you see them?"

"No," Hermione replied, standing on tiptoe. "You're taller than me, you should be doing this."

Ginny stuck her tongue out at her friend's back.

"You can't miss them. Ron looks like a carrot."

Hermione smirked at Ginny. "You realize your hair is the exact same color, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. People with stone houses shouldn't throw glass… wait…that's not it…"

Hermione rolled her eyes and walked over to Luna Lovegood. "Luna! How are you?"

"Quite fine, thank you," the blonde replied in her dream-like voice. "And you?"

"Good. So… you and Neville, eh?"

Luna smiled embarrassedly. "Yeah. We met up again at your wedding, actually, and rekindled our friendship. Then, about a year ago, we officially started dating. Been steady since."

Hermione hugged her friend. Ginny rushed over to them.

"Found 'em!" she exclaimed.

Hermione shot Luna one last grin. "Talk to you later!"

Ginny dragged the pregnant girl through the crowd toward Ron and Harry. Just before they got there, Hermione wriggled out of Ginny's grasp, and snuck behind her husband.

"Guess who?" she asked, covering his eyes with her hands.

Ron turned around and kissed her on the lips.

Ginny mimed throwing up.

"Sorry."

"You better be."

She linked her arm through Harry's and led him around the room, talking to old friends and professors.

"It's too bad Lupin couldn't come," Ginny said while they were getting some punch.

"Yeah, where is he?"

Ginny giggled. "Oh… Tonks said something about finally having Grimmauld Place to themselves and handcuffing Remus to the bed until she –"

"LALALA!" Harry cried covering his ears. "He's one of my best friends and you… ugh. Oh… ew! I can't get it out of my head!" He twitched involuntarily. "Thanks, Gin. Really. I needed that."

"You're welcome."

After talking to what seemed like hundreds of people, Harry began to feel drowsy and sat on one of the purple chairs around the room. He fought to keep his eyes open, and saw others doing the same.

"Gin, what t-t-t-time is it?" he asked yawning.

"Uh… quarter to eleven. Are you okay? You look kind of… I dunno how to describe it…" she replied. She saw that everyone else was almost as tired as he. Everyone, that is, except for Fred and George. She closed her eyes as realization struck her.

"Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"How much punch did you drink?"

Harry's eyes snapped open. "Crap." He made to get up, thought better of it, and just repositioned himself on the chair. "Well, it was good timing, at least. Party's over in fifteen minutes."

"True." Ginny shook her head. "Shit, Hermione! The baby!" Ginny ran to Hermione, who then turned to the twins.

"It won't hurt the baby, it's purely non-alcoholic."

"And there's no drugs in it," George defended.

"You had _better_ hope so. Not just for my sake, but everyone else's too," Hermione threatened.

"New product," Fred smiled.

Hermione silently counted to ten under her breath.

"What's she doing?"

Ginny looked at the twins, a look of pure glee on her face. "Oh-ho-ho. You better run. And run fast."

Fred smirked at his twin.

Ginny conjured up some popcorn and summoned one of the chairs. Fred and George almost immediately disapparated back to their flat.

Dumbledore stood up, surveying the room. Luckily, he had not had any of the spiked punch, and could easily take charge of the situation. The crowd instantly quieted.

"It seems that nearly everyone is too incapacitated to walk down to Hogsmeade, much less disapparate home on their own. You may use our Floo facilities if needed. I will personally be taking a group down to Hogsmeade to use the Floo there."

He droned on, but Ginny started to feel the effects if the concoction, too. Hermione was fine, and Ron had had enough sense to stop drinking the punch when he heard what happened, but virtually everyone else was under the "spell".

The next thing Ginny remembered was the floor coming up to meet her.

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**((Like I said, slow chapter. It leads up to something, the next "problem". Someone mentioned that they sounded a bit immature, well, I'm not their age yet, so I'm going by what I know. Ok. R an R! Lots. Review lots… lol))**


	10. Chapter 10

**((Oops. Mistakes in the last chapter. Thanks to Lauren for pointing it out: I said Dumbledore was missing and then I said that he was there. Er, let's just pretend that he was in the bathroom earlier or something… And then Laura pointed out that if he were in England, Dean would not be African _American_. Kind of forgot that. Sorry. I do not own Harry Potter. I wish I did. Or even just Lupin or Sirius. I'm not picky. Today is Saturday, October 29, 2005. All right. Here you are.))**

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"Don't worry, girlie. It's almost over; Mr. _Potter_ should be here any minute now…" he advanced toward her, his black eyes glittering menacingly. He reached out for her arm and she felt the cold sweeping around her. A dark fuzziness began surrounding her, and soon she could only see his eyes. "The perfect trap." 

"No!" Ginny sat straight up in bed, the sheets wrapped around her like a cocoon. She was drenched in a cold sweat and her heart was pounding like she had just run a marathon.

She reached to push her hair out of her face and realized that there were tears on her face. She wiped her face and threw her sheets off.

"_Oh, god. Not again. No, no, no!"_ Ginny held back a whimper and took several deep breaths. She walked over to her vanity and looked at her tear-stained face. She plopped down on the cushy chair and tried not to cry.

"_Ever since that stupid reunion! Maybe just being at that school brought back all of these memories."_

It had been nearly two weeks since the Hogwarts Reunion. Every night since she had gotten nightmares. Well, not nightmare_s_, it was the same nightmare over and over again.

Down in the Chamber, with Riddle coming closer and closer before she finally blacked out from a combination of weakness and fear.

Ginny stood up to retrieve her robe. She grabbed an old one, green and tattered, and way too long for her. She was too tired to care. Plus it was really comfortable. She stumbled across the hallway to the bathroom and rinsed her face off with cold water. She pulled her hair up in a clip and padded downstairs.

It wasn't until she stepped off the last step that she realized that there was already someone else on the couch. The fire roaring in the hearth reflected off of his glasses.

"Harry?"

He jerked, startled, and looked over at Ginny. "Gin? What're you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep," she smiled. "You?"

"Same."

Ginny shuddered involuntarily; it was an unusually cold night for the beginning of July.

"You want some cocoa?"

"Sure."

Ginny made her way to the kitchen, turning on as few lights as possible. She quickly added some M&Ms and brought two mugs back to the fireside.

"Thanks." The two sipped in silence until the warm drink was gone. Harry magicked the two empty glasses into the kitchen.

Harry sat in deep thought, staring at the fire. Something seemed to be bothering him.

"_Come to think of it," _Ginny thought, _"he's been acting like this a lot lately. I wonder if he's okay. Maybe I should ask him about it."_

Another voice in the back of her head spoke up; a much louder Hermione-like voice. _"He probably doesn't want me poking around in his personal business. He would've opened up to me by now if he wanted to say anything, right?"_

"_Wrong. He's a private person and he wouldn't admit that anything was wrong unless pestered about it. So I'll ask him how he's doing."_

"_No! Don't even think about it! He'd get all weird and it'll be like school all over again."_

"_Shut up, shut up, shut up! Stop talking!"_ Ginny hit her head with her fist. Harry glanced at her, a goofy grin on his face.

"Ask him!" 

"_No!"_

"_Go for it!"_

"_Shut up, you."_

"_You're the one talking to yourself!"_

"_You're me! And I'm you. Why… oh I'm so confused! Aaaaarrrrggghhhh!"_

Ginny flopped back on the couch staring at the ceiling.

Harry burst out laughing. "Are you okay?"

Ginny smirked at the ceiling trying to avoid his gaze. "I was just gonna ask you that."

Harry was still snickering when she finally looked at him. "Seriously, you okay? You've been acting kinda funny lately…"

The smile slowly slid off of Harry's face. "Er, yeah… I—I'm fine."

"Uh-huh. Yeah. And I'm Mary effing Poppins."

He tried to smile, but his mouth seemed to have stopped working.

"Come on, what's up?"

"_Do I tell her or not? I really shouldn't bother her with my problems. But she _is _a good problem solver, she _could_ help. Possibly. Maybe. Hopefully. Probably not…"_

He rubbed his face and sighed. "It's… it's… I…" he stopped, trying to collect his thoughts. When he finally spoke, it was barely louder than a whisper. "I—I keep having n—… remembering… things…that I don't want to… that I want to… forget." He swallowed hard and stared into the fire. He wasn't sure how to put everything into words. Well, he _knew_ what he wanted to say, but for some reason, he just couldn't.

Ginny sat up straight and her head whipped around. Harry was surprised that she hadn't gotten whiplash. "Memories? Old, horrible memories? The same one playing repeatedly, night after night?"

Harry slowly turned his head. "Yeah, how did you know that?"

Ginny went on as if she hadn't heard him. "And every night you wake up in a cold sweat? You try to go back to sleep, but it never works?"

He nodded.

Ginny slumped back in the sofa again. Now it was her turn to stare into the fire.

"So he's having them, too? What's going on? Ever since the reunion. Maybe it was the school. Wonderful. Stupid Hogwarts." 

"Ginny," Harry said, "how did you know… that? E—exactly what was going on, I mean."

She looked him straight in the eye. "Because it's been happening to me, too."

An uneasy silence filled the room. "What d'you mean?"

"The nightmares. I've been having them. Ever since the reunion, and there getting worse every night. Last night I woke up and had scratched my arm open in my sleep."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"There wasn't a good time?" she lied.

"Gin."

"I don't know, Harry. I just… didn't want to bother anyone. Why didn't _you_ say anything?"

"I asked first."

"And I answered."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Well, the same reason, actually. You guys don't need to be bothered with my problems. I—I can take care of myself."

"Hm. Well, now you know you don't have to go through this alone."

"Thanks, Gin."

She snuggled up close to him and he wrapped his arms around her. "I love you."

She kissed him. "Not as much as I love you."

Harry conjured a blanket over the two of them, and in a matter of minutes, they fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

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"You dolts, why didn't you say anything? You two can be so _stupid_ sometimes, you know that?" 

Ginny had just told Hermione what had been going on. Needless to say, Hermione was quite upset.

"Well, I thought it was just me—"

"And this has happened to me before. There was no need to bother you," Harry interjected.

Hermione was fighting the urge not to smack them both upside the head. Ron, realizing this, came up behind her and hugged her, kissing the back of her head.

"We're still your friends. You can tell us anything," Hermione went on.

"At least they said something," Ron said. Turning to his best friend, he said, "Now we just need to figure out how to get them to stop."

The four discussed the problem for a while longer but were unable to come up with a solution. The best was Ron's idea of asking the Twins if they could make an antidote. But even that was unlikely, as it would take forever for the potion to be finished.

"Harry, mate, we have practice in an hour."

"Right. I'll see you girls later," Harry replied kissing Ginny and Hermione on the cheek.

The boys soon left for practice, leaving Ginny and Hermione to contemplate over their dilemma.

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**((I know, really short. I'll make up for it though , jsut you wait. I have a small writer's block. Like, I know what I want to happen, I just don't know how I want to say it. 15 reviews and I will update again!))**


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